Mohammed Dahlan, a former senior member of the Fatah organization who has been living in exile from Gaza, was named as a possible Gaza ruler after the war, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. He was acceptable to both Israel and Hamas as a temporary appointment and would be approved by the United States and the Suni Gulf nations.
Dahlan had clashed with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and with the Hamas terror group. He was exiled to the UAE from the West Bank, where he fled when Hamas took over the Strip.
His name came up previously as someone who may administer Gaza after the war but had publicly announced he would reject any such offer. In an interview with the New York Times in February, he said that he does not intend to hold a political position in Gaza or the West Bank. "Neither Abbas nor Hamas. We must find new people in the Palestinian Authority." Dahlan said.
According to an option currently under consideration, Dahlan would oversee a Palestinian security force of 2,500 men working in coordination with an international force, as Israeli troops pull out, Arab officials told the Journal. "The Palestinian forces would be vetted by the U.S., Israel and Egypt and wouldn’t have clear loyalties to the Palestinian Authority, which Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu does not want in control of Gaza," the officials said.